To help educate printers on how to make a successful transition, xpedx—a full-service supplier of wide-format equipment, supplies and service—increased its Wide Format Solutions Summits to 28 shows at 14 new cities this year based on the success of the five summits it held in 2012. The events are designed to be more than just a cursory introduction to the wide-format market. “The Solutions Summits provide attendees with a vision of where their business can go and how they can get there,” explains Dennis Killion, xpedx director of marketing, graphics.

The program at the traveling road shows remains consistent. Each summit features strategic industry knowledge to help printers uncover where the opportunities in wide-format lie, how to market and sell the service, as well as education on the technology offerings themselves.

The July 10-11 summit in Minneapolis, for example, lead off with a presentation by Jeff Hayes, president of print technology strategy and consulting firm InfoTrends. He noted that printers are averaging profit margins of 11.6 percent on wide-format jobs, and that emerging applications include rigid signage, exhibition layout work, short-run packaging and output for the interior décor marketplace.

Next, Dennis Killion discussed xpedx’s total integration, workflow optimization and color management training capabilities in the wide-format space. Then, guests moved to a demo room to view actual equipment demonstrations and to inspect a wide range of flexible and rigid product samples produced on various media and substrates.

The xpedx Wide Format Solutions Summits provide a unique educational opportunity, and prove to be well worth the half-day time commitment for printers seeking to learn more about the growth market opportunities in that space. PI